Murray Shakespeare Festival expands performance lineup for 2024

MURRAY, Ky. – The Murray Shakespeare Festival is proud to announce an expanded lineup of performances for its 2024 season. Kentucky Shakespeare’s professional traveling company will perform the lively Shakespearean comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on March 6-9.

In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” reality is not always what it appears to be. Two Athenian couples escape to the forest when their relationships are challenged by circumstances beyond their control. When a chaos-loving fairy decides to play tricks on them, pandemonium and hijinks ensue. In this hilarious comedy, Shakespeare’s characters face difficulties in love, the constant intrusion of chaos and the bizarre side effects of fairy magic that does not always work exactly as intended. The play invites the audience to consider timeless themes including dream versus reality, the complications of love and what it means to be human.

Daytime performances will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 6, and Thursday, March 7 at Lovett Auditorium. There will also be an evening performance at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 8, and a matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.

Tickets will be available at the door. Cost is $5 for students and Murray state faculty and staff (with ID) or $10 for the general public.

In addition to these performances, the Murray State Shakespeare Festival will celebrate the works of Shakespeare through a series of free community events:

• A Shakespeare “insult battle” flash mob will take place at noon on Monday, March 4 in the Murray State Curris Center Lounge.

• On Tuesday, March 5, a film screening of “Voice of Social Change: Ira Aldridge” will explore the life of the first black man to perform Shakespeare’s leading male characters. A reception will begin at 4 p.m. and the screening will begin at 5 p.m. in Murray State’s Faculty Hall, rooms 207 and 208.

• Award-winning poet and writer Constance Alexander will lead a community reading event titled “Pick Up Lines” at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, at the Calloway County Public Library. The interactive session will explore memorable love lines from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with readings from key scenes to enrich the audience’s experience of reading or seeing the play.

• Playhouse in the Park will host an hour-long acting workshop titled “Discovering Shakespeare,” presented by actors from Kentucky Shakespeare at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 7. Community members ages 12 and older are invited to the Playhouse Annex at 907 Arcadia Circle.

The Murray Shakespeare Festival began in 2001 and was originally created to serve as a resource for the region’s teachers. The festival’s performances bring Shakespearean texts to life for students through high-quality theatrical productions, and it now welcomes hundreds of kindergarten through 12th grade students from across the Jackson Purchase region in addition to Murray State students and members of the community each year.

Based in Louisville, Kentucky Shakespeare employs groups of well-trained actors who enact Shakespeare’s most popular plays in ways that inspire students to learn more about the Bard. Learn more about Kentucky Shakespeare at kyshakespeare.com.

For more information about the 2024 Murray Shakespeare Festival or to reserve tickets for a school group, contact Murray Shakespeare Festival Chair Dr. Rusty Jones at 270-809-2397 or wjones1@murraystate.edu.